Classic (Paleo) Diner-Style Home Fries

A cuppa joe. A wise-ass waitress. And a plate piled with over-medium eggs, crispy bacon, and a mound of crispy brown home fries — this is my ideal weekend breakfast at a diner.

Sure, we paleo people have been able to enjoy a classic diner breakfast of bacon and eggs all along, but I have to tell you, the announcement that white potatoes are now Whole30 compliant made me super-duper excited. Because now I can add home fries back to my weekend breakfast plate. And the tastiest, healthiest way to do that it to make them at home. It’s super easy and then you can make your own wisecracks when you serve them to your near and dear.

Here’s my recipe for crisp, brown, oh-so-satisfying, Classic (Paleo) Diner-Style Home Fries. And there’s no need to save them for breakfast! These are great alongside a hamburger patty, turned into a hash with cooked ground meat, or topped with pulled pork or roast chicken.

Directions:

1

Place diced potatoes and salt in a saucepan, cover with 1/2 inch water, and place over high heat. When the water begins to boil, about 6-8 minutes, check the potatoes to see if they’re tender enough to pierce with a fork. If yes, drain them thoroughly in a colander.

2

Meanwhile, while the potatoes are cooking, heat a large skillet over medium-high heat, about 3 minutes. Add fat and allow it to melt. Toss the onion in the pan and sauté, stirring frequently with a wooden spoon. Cook until nicely browned, about 8-10 minutes. Transfer the onion to a small bowl and return the pan to the heat.

3

Add 2 tablespoons coconut oil to the skillet and allow the pan to get hot, about 2 minutes. Add the potato cubes, shaking the skillet to make an even, single layer. Cook the spuds without stirring until the cubes are golden brown on the bottom, about 5 minutes, then carefully flip them with a large spatula and make another single layer. Repeat this process until the cubes are browned on most sides, about 15 minutes.

4

When the potatoes are looking good, add the onions, paprika, chili powder, salt, and pepper to the pan. Stir to blend and heat through. Remove the home fries from the heat, stir in the parsley, and serve immediately.

You Know How You Could Do That?

Make beef hash!

Add 1 cup diced bell pepper along with the onion and stir in some already-cooked ground beef, cooked pork, or cubes of steak after the potatoes are browned.

Comments

I am happy that I can have white potato again, but I will consume it on the rarely basis. You know how you could also do that? Have chocolate chili over it! haha! I love your chocolate chili…I have to have it on hand at all times and eat it many days a week! Making another batch today! While my family has pizza tonight at my parents, I’m bringing my chili to eat with. Thanks Melissa! Hope you are getting settled in Vermont!

Woohoooo!! When did that happen! I’m on Day 17 and that maybe mighta kinda just made me delirious. lol:) Now if only you’d tell me that melted cheddar cheese is cool too, I’d sail right through to Day 30. heehee (but honestly, it hasn’t been as hard to give up cheese as I thought it would be.) I think I’ll save this for Saturday. Can’t wait to try it! So glad to see a blog post from you today.:)

I just texted my husband a picture of the announcement that white potatoes were allowed. If only I could’ve included 100 exclamation points. And then I thought, “If I’m this excited over a white potato I should probably back off.” Only on day 6 over here. But your recipe looks amazing!

Congratulations on Day 6! YAY, you! I was really excited about the potatoes, too. I think the trick, at least for me, is to only make as much as we’ll eat in one meal, then I really can’t overdo it. Enjoy!

This is great! My husband and I did the Whole30, and while we’re not strictly on it now, we try to stick to it pretty much. He’s lost 40+ lbs and just today had his bp meds reduced, and I’ve lost about 20 and sleep much better. We both still need to lose, so we’re try to be realistic but how and what we eat has changed tremendously! Love your recipes, next time I’ll get a book though, instead of on my kindle! I’ve found I like the “real” thing when it comes to cookbooks! So, short story long, Yay potatoes, but only occasionally! 🙂

I’m on Day 3 of the Whole30, and dinner tonight included a small baked potato topped with … Chocolate Chili. YUM! Thank you so much for all you have shared online. (And I ordered Well Fed 2 yesterday.)Thanks!

These are freaking amazing! It was good the last time I made it a week ago, but I did it right this time with the onions and chili powder. It’s hard to believe I was able to replicate this amazingness, and I’m only 18 days into whole30…which also means 18 days since I started cooking something other than ramen noodles. Thank you so much for this!

So we’ve made these a few times. Last night, they didn’t come out as good. When I put the potatoes in, they soaked up all the oil immediately. That’s not supposed to happen, right? Any idea what I might have done wrong? In general everything was too dry.

Since I wasn’t in the kitchen with you, I’m just guessing here: it may be that the pan/cooking fat wasn’t hot enough. I know in deep frying, food soaks up oil when the oil isn’t hot enough. It might also be the type of potato you used: starchier (versus waxy) potatoes work best for getting crisp.

I’m almost through my first Whole30 and was fast running out of good ideas (and energy to find them) and I stumbled across this – delicious!! I added sausage to make it into a hash. I can’t wait to make it again!

I just want to sayI have been making these since you posted the recipe and have always struggled with having the potatoes crispy. I always use sweet potatoes and most recently, japanese sweet potates. I just saw your crispy japanese sweet potato fry recipe with the nuking of the potatoes and thought iot might solve the problem of the smushy homefries…IT DID!! Im so excited! Best recipe ever. Thanks Mel, you rock!!

Right on! I’m glad that worked for you! Sweet potatoes are finicky, but microwave is super handy. We don’t have one here in Prague, so no crispy sweet potatoes for us 🙁 But… PRAGUE, so it all works out!

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